July 16 (UPI) — A New York federal judge Tuesday permanently blocked the Trump administration from adding a question about citizenship to the 2020 census.
District Judge Jesse Furman issued the ruling, jointly drafted by the parties opposing the question, days after President Donald Trump announced he would no longer seek to include the question.
In addition to preventing the question from being included on the 2020 census, the order prohibits administration officials from delaying the process of printing the 2020 census beyond June 20 in order to include such a question and from asking people about citizenship status.
Furman’s ruling also stated that the court will continue to enforce the terms of the order until the results of the 2020 census are processed and sent to Trump by Dec. 31, 2020.
The parties seeking the exclusion of the question, including the state of New York and the American Civil Liberties Union, wrote a letter to Furman stating they had drafted the order and the Justice Department didn’t oppose its signing.
The administration sought to include the questions stating it would help to enforce and protect federal voting laws, while opponents stated it would lead to a substantial undercount as undocumented immigrants would not participate.
Furman was one of two judges to block the question in a ruling that was upheld by 5-4 vote by the Supreme Court.
Last week, Trump signed an executive order instructing the commerce department to obtain citizenship information by other means.
